It’s telling that Doireann Garrihy’s mum Clare reckons that her youngest daughter would have made a great nurse. And it’s not because she’s caring, necessarily, (though she is), or squeamish (which she’s not) but because this broadcaster, podcaster and influencer loves the chats. She’s also handy at the small talk, having learnt from the best small-talkers she knows, her parents!
Miles of TV and radio airtime, along with 24 podcast episodes (The Laughs of Your Life and Doireann and Friends) have flexed that muscle too. So – good at small talk and at keeping secrets. We spent a day with the Dancing With the Stars co-host on our gorgeous cover shoot in a castle (Luttrellstown) fit for this queen, (days before the news broke of her return to RTÉ 2FM) and she remained tight-lipped throughout. Once the cat was out of the bag, however, she told us the lot, in gushing, can’t-believe-my-luck detail.
Her reluctance to blurt it out though shows two things: her professionalism and her poise. Where years ago she used to make jokes, she admits, to get a reaction, maturity and a security in who she is and what she does, has done away with all that now. Doireann is solid.
She’s also happy. And in love! Last December, this 35-year-old broadcaster married the love of her life, comedian Mark Mehigan at St Brigid’s Church, Straffan, followed by a 5-star reception at the nearby K Club. Here, with us now, she reminisces on the big day, talks about working on the best show on tv, Dancing With The Stars, and tells us, exclusively, why she’s made the decision to return to RTÉ 2FM this month, to host her very own show on Drivetime (3pm-6pm) following that shock departure from the breakfast show last May.
Grab your cuppa, we’re going in…!
Doireann, you’re back!
I am back! I am absolutely thrilled – so excited and delighted.
You weren’t gone very long! Only since last May. Did you miss RTÉ that much?!
I knew when I left in May that I wasn’t finished in radio forever. I absolutely knew and felt that. But at that time, it was the right time for me to leave. And I made the decision based on my gut, which I have always done. I think my family and friends, as much as they always back and support me, they were like, ‘Oh, here’s Doireann going with her gut again, making these decisions’! But I just don’t think there’s any point making decisions any other way. It felt right for me then, I knew what the rest of my year looked like. I knew what the start of 2025 looked like with Dancing With The Stars (DWTS). I knew I needed a break as well.
You were probably worn out also, specifically from doing so many earlies (from 6am) on 2FM Breakfast.
It’s not easy. And when I was on 2FM Breakfast I would try not complain about it. It is essentially shift-work. Of course there are many forms of shift work, and much longer hours too, but it’s high intensity work very early in the morning, and you have to be ‘on’ no matter what’s going on in your own life. You have to be sprightly, fun, light and entertaining five days a week and I did that, and I feel I did it well for five years – I just needed a break.
You were also getting married at the end of the year.
I was! And I knew I wanted to do a bit of travel. I spent a lot of my 20s not doing things because I wanted to focus on my career and I’ve no regrets about that. But I didn’t do any of the Thailand trips or South America, and then having met Mark and seeing his amazing appreciation and love for travel and culture and language, that really rubbed off on me, and I thought, why don’t we do a bit of that before we get married so we planned that and went away for six weeks. I had a lovely break – I think you need a couple of months post breakfast radio to realise the toll tiredness can take on you.
So, what changed your mind and made you go back?
Two weeks before I got married, I got a call asking if I wanted to do my own show on the station. It’s something I’ve been working towards for ten years, it was a massive opportunity. So, I said, let me get married and have a think and digest this, which I did, and I just thought, okay, this is the time, and I do feel ready, and I do have enough air-miles under my belt to be ale to carry it. It is exciting.
How did it feel going back into RTÉ 2FM?
It felt strange; I was nervous but excited. I felt like a newbie but also like part of the furniture because I know so many of the team. I like that it feels so familiar but also such a new challenge.
Will it be weird having your own show and no wingmen (she previously co-hosted with Carl Mullan and Donncha O’Callaghan) to throw to?
To not have Donncha and Carl will be strange. But there will be contributors and callers, and I think people underestimate how important callers and listeners and their interactions are in terms of the content of the show. Most of the golden radio moments come from chatting to callers and hearing their stories.
The most important thing about breakfast radio, you say, is to be light, fun, entertaining and fast! It’s pretty much the same for drivetime, isn’t it?
It is in many ways. People are still relying on you on their way home and they still want their headlines, their sport, a bit of craic – it’s similar, but I feel I’ll have more room to bring more of myself and my own interests. On the breakfast show we didn’t do many interviews because there were so many voices already, so I am excited to have more breathing space. But still, it’s fast. You need to be quick on radio. When things go wrong you need to be quick in dealing with it.
Is podcasting easier than radio?
As much as I love the podcasts, there is no substitute for live. I adore my podcasts, it’s such a different medium, podcasts you can edit and finesse and make it all sound beautiful but with radio it’s totally different. There’s no feeling like things going right when you’re live.
What happens when they go wrong? What does that feel like?
Sometimes you can handle it, sometimes you stare blankly out at your producer, and they might send you in a message, to say, play a song, go to the ad break! I’m lucky that nothing major has gone wrong, also it’s in an entertainment space.
Imagine you were moving to Newstalk!
I don’t think I’d be able! Well…maybe down the line!
You’ve been a free agent for so long, are you looking forward but slightly dreading clocking back in again?
I think not having to get up in the middle of the night will make a massive difference for me. I am excited to have a totally different schedule.
What about Jennifer (Zamparelli)? You both left 2FM around the same time, what did she say when she heard the news?
She was like, you have so much radio time left in you, you’ll be great. I was texting her yesterday, she’s been very supportive, always has been. Jen took me under her wing from the get-go on DWTS and I’ve always loved having that relationship with her, I mean she’s done it all.
What did your husband Mark think when you got the call before the wedding?
He was thrilled for me. He thought what a compliment to get that call. And he was in agreement, get married, have a little think, and figure out what it will look like for both of us, but if it’s the right thing for you and you want it, 100 per cent do it, and I’m with you all the way.
Ah, we can’t wait to have you back on the airwaves!
Ah thanks, you know I was emotional last year when I left. Until you’re leaving something like that you don’t realise how much support you have. It was bittersweet because I really didn’t know when I was on air how many people enjoy what I do and that made me sad.That has given me such a boost going back in.
Did you not know you were loved?!
Ah, I did, I suppose…[thinking] ah, listen, I think I’m good at backing myself and I think I am able for most things I put my mind to. When I think of an opportunity, I don’t go, oh I won’t be able for that.
Have you always backed yourself? Because we know you do, or did certainly in the past, have doubts, like everybody…
Of course, sometimes you think, oh my God am I good at this at all, but I don’t think I’ve ever struggled with Imposter Syndrome, more just doubts, like do I have the intellect for that or will people think I’m a spoofer? I think surrounding yourself with people that care about you is important. It can be easy to have industry friends who are yes people when actually my immediate family and my oldest friends are the ones who I would bounce most ideas, or concerns, off.
Are you able to take criticism?
I’m way better, I used not be very good at taking criticism. I feel that is a youngest child thing. But you won’t go far in this industry if you can’t be criticised or if you can’t critique yourself, otherwise you’re just sailing along thinking you’re the answer to everything, when really you are not.
You have said before that when you were younger you used to make jokes to shock or unsettle, but breakfast radio and family TV has surely put manners on that?!
100 per cent! That is why the podcasts are great; I can get away with so much more! That behaviour definitely came from being the youngest and wanting to make Aoibhín and Ailbhe laugh. That’s where I finessed my sense of humour. My parents are also really funny, quick-witted people. I think it’s a west of Ireland thing too. I do think spending so much of our time in Clare as kids really helped us. Every Easter, every summer, it was Doolin or the Aran Islands. That massively contributed to shaping the three of us.
Well, you’ve never looked happier. You’re constantly grinning these days!
[Grinning] I suppose I am! I feel very content and it’s been such a lovely time over the last couple of months. Did I mention I got married?!
Did you?! Do you want to do it all again (the wedding)?
All of the things people say before you get married are true, the main one being it will all come together on the day. It’s really hard in the run up to believe that is true because you want it to be the best day ever, so the stress in advance is necessary because you do all that so you can relax on the day. All the little things you worry about, I am glad I worried about them. I am glad I worried with attention to detail! I’m glad I put black candles on the tables rather than white candles. I am so glad I did pay attention to all those things in advance. The week of it, I was, of course, nervous, excited, bursting for the day to happen, and then there’s a lovely feeling after in that you’re so happy it’s done, and it went well, and you can think about other things, bar the wedding again. But now I’m like, aw, I’d love to do it all again!
The dreamy wedding dress, where is it now?
In my mum’s house waiting to get dry-cleaned! She was like, let me take care of this, just in case! She’s guarding it with her life!
Have you air dried the floral bouquets for posterity?
We had a mix of fresh and dried flowers, so I’ve kept the dried flowers, and they are dotted around the house; they match the downstairs bathroom beautifully!
Do you feel different being married?
Apart from finding it strange to be called a “wife” or calling Mark my “husband”, it’s all very much the same! Ah no, there is definitely a feeling of total assuredness and unwavering support that is really lovely. It was always there, it just feels sort of…glowier!
Do you worry that being so content and happy right now will strip you of your comedic edge? Does comedy need an edge?
Ooo! I don’t think so. I’m at a lovely stage in my life, yes. But I still have all of the every day worries, fears and stresses that everyone else has. Much of comedy comes from the every day struggles or mishaps that no human can escape, regardless of how good life might seem on the outside.
Talk to us about life on the inside of DWTS! What a show!
What a show! It’s my third year to do it now, the first and second year I was really finding my feet, I still felt I needed to prove that it was the role for me, whereas this year I really feel comfortable in it. Even the box that I present from has now officially been christened Doireann’s Den! I just love it! It’s a grim time of year so to have that bit of glitz and glam is just the tonic needed. It’s such a lovely family show and I adore being part of it.
It’s brought back the ceremony of watching something live, aside from news or sport.
100 per cent. We’re so spoilt for content now with every type of streaming platform or even just sitting on your bed and scrolling on TikTok for an hour, you’d be as entertained there as watching a movie. Appointment-to-watch viewing is rare these days. I don’t mean to sound cringe, but DWTS does bring people together. Even in the supermarket a 10-year-old and an 80-year-old could stop me, I love that about it.
There’s a lot of elements to the show. Is it stressful to work on? Do you get nervous?
It’s live as live gets and with that comes the fear! So many years of radio trained me for that where you have to be ready for any eventuality. So yes, the fear is there but it’s part of the excitement of it all. All day on Sunday I’m fine, but when the official music comes on and I’m about to walk down the stairs, I do get a jolt of excitement/fear but once we get to the bottom of the stairs, and neither of us have fallen, and we’ve said our first couple of words, then you settle in.
Would you ever like to be a contestant?
I don’t think so! Aoibhin, my eldest sister, did it, and she was amazing, and it was great to watch her go on that journey. But I think presenting is the place for me! Also I have a dodgy knee, had surgery on it a couple of years ago so there are only a few moves I can do.
Handy excuse! We know you’d have to kill us if you told us who’s your money on this year! But who’s your money on?!
It’s the ones who throw themselves into it that go far! You hear whispers of so and so who’s not training as much compared to someone who is doing 12 hours a day. It is so hard, and if you want to go far, not win necessarily, but get the full experience, you have to train so hard. Rather them than me! It’s such tough work.
It’s such a great show.
It is such a great show.
The best gig on tv!
The best! Jen always says that people think tv is glamorous but actually DWTS is glamorous. There are people changing dresses behind the sets and others being spray tanned, it’s the real deal.
We know you’re just about to start a new job, and that’s the focus now, but what is the big picture? What goals are you manifesting for the future?
I have a rough idea in my head of what I want to do and where I want to be. I’m really fortunate in that I’ve kept many balls in the air in terms of my podcasting, Mc-ing, tv and social media. I think I like to go with the flow, as much as you can go with the flow in this field of work, straddling all the different things I’ve grown and constantly trying to change and improve each of them. It’s been mad, I’ve gone pretty much straight to shiny floor tv, obviously I’ve done lots of comedy stuff to get here, but perhaps there are other avenues I could go down like documentaries? But that’s all down the road.
